In the late eighteen hundreds, machines started to take place of people in industries. Work became unskilled labor, or labor that requires zero to little experience. Not soon after, the economy crashed and left millions out of work. Workers who got to continue working had their wages cut. By 1877, railway workers had enough of the wage inequity and went on strike. This was known as the Great Railroad Strike. From Pennsylvania to California, railroad systems had workers leave their posts. Not long after the strikes, state governments started calling for Federal troops to take down the activity. Though the majority of the middle class agreed with the strikers motivations and reasoning, they were disappointed in the damage that occurred.
Because of the rising change of social and industry they kind of caused friction towards political views. Miners and steelworkers were the first workers to use the strike ad a bargaining tool against their business owners.
The Great Railroad strike occurred in 1877 and started in Martinsburg, West Virginia. The original incident was when major railroad companies announced that there would be another wage cut of ten percent, after workers’ wages were already slashed during the financial panic of 1873. This economic downfall caused hundreds of laborers to leave their jobs and go on strike. The word spread to cities across the country that railroad workers were striking causing a domino effect of strikes within other railroad companies as well as other professions. The initial strike led to violence causing the loss of
The years following the Civil War and Reconstruction was an era somewhat gilded. The Second Industrial Revolution came about with new inventions, and revolutionized how factories and jobs were worked. Factory workers in this time period were working in poor conditions and had no power whatsoever. Often they were abused and their wages were cut very low. The mass immigration also did not favor laborers as it made them so easy to replace. In order to fight back laborers would join labor unions in order to protest; however, during this time the labor unions were not that affective during 1875 and 1900 because although they had their efforts many of them would not work to their advantage; efforts would give them a bad reputation, go out of
From the era of Reconstruction to the late of 19th century, the United States experienced a significant economic growth and a large number of immigrants, who were lured by enormous job opportunities. The big business starting growing rapidly due to a combination of new technology, more efficient management and access to enormous resources. From 1870 to 1900, the expansion of big corporations caused mass production and high demands of unskilled workers in the United States, while resulting more difficult situations for workers and intense political corruption. The Americans responded actively to such conditions. Some of them organized strike in order to threatened their employers and ask for better treatments, while others participated in many
Despite being able to cause a small improvement in workers’ pay and hours, labor unions ultimately died out by the 1900s due to their methods. Unable to truly focus on the plight of skilled workers, most labor unions instead focused on that of unskilled workers, pushing aside the skilled workers. (Doc D). The actions of labor unions ended up being counterproductive, forcing companies to wage war against the labor unions. These stricter contracts such as that of Western Union Telegraph Company, forced workers to affiliate themselves against labor unions. (Doc E) One important thing to note is that the workers’ rights advocates were never able to coincide on one factor. As evidenced in an illustration in 1887, labor unions had to compete with other movements such as socialism, anarchism, and other labor unions. (Doc F). Because of this, the media, although recognizing the labor union movement, began viewing the labor unions as dangerous entities. Although the initial strikes such as the Wabash strike were successful, the ones that followed proved detrimental to the movement, and caused the steady decline of the labor unions. Because some of the strikes were dangerous, many strikes resulted in the deaths of those involved, such as the Homestead Crisis, and Pinkerton (Doc G). Combined with events such as the Wildcat strike, Haymarket strike, the Pullman Strike, the public began to associate a negative
As stated, many labor unions that were created utilized strikes to negotiate and come to a compromise between business leaders and their workers. However, it got to the point where they were being overused, and starting to turn very violent. The first time this had occurred is the Great Strike in the year of 1877. It occurred in the city of Baltimore, where workers from the Ohio Railroad company were on strike due to their pay checks being cut. However, a compromise was unable to be in a timely manner, causing the railroad system to come to a halt. This delay lasted for about a week or two, even causing the federal government to get involved as the economy and commerce was being greatly affected by this. To bring an end to this, the President,
The Pullman strike was a violent 1894 railway workers’ strike which began outside of Chicago and spread nationwide. The Pullman strike escalated, halting both railroad traffic and mail delivery. Railroad owners cited that Sherman Antitrust Act to argue that the union was illegally disputing free trade. President Grover Cleveland sent in federal troops, ending the strike dozen people were killed in violent clashes in the streets of Chicago, where the strike was centered. When he refused governments order to end the strike, Eugene Debs was imprisoned for conspiring against interstate commerce. Though Debs appealed the conviction, claiming that the government had no right to halt the strike. The strike was a bitter battle between workers and company
The UAW went on strike nationwide for a period of 113 days against the General Motor. After the World War II, for the returning of the Vets, they could find any job, everything were low paying job. American workers went to strike from 1945 to 1946.
In the late 1800s and the early 1900s, labor was anything but easy. Factory workers faced long hours, low pay, high unemployment fears, and poor working conditions during this time. Life today is much easier in comparison to the late 1800s. Americans have shorter days, bigger pay and easier working conditions. Not comparable to how life is today, many riots sparked, and citizens began to fight for equal treatment. Along with other important events, the Haymarket Riot, the Pullman Strike, and the Homestead strike all play a vital role in illustrating labor’s struggle to gain fair and equitable treatment during the late 1800s and early 1900s.
As the rich became richer and the poor became poorer, it was realized by the laborers of the railroad that their nation's economic growth and prosperity was not being equally shared among the people. Coupled with years of wage cuts (35% over 3 years), and workforce reductions, that then required remaining workers to work 15-18 hour days, the workers fought back.
The Great Railroad Strike of 1877 manifested into the first of a series of labor strikes in the United States and the first general strike of the nation. Working on the railroads, labor workers already had poor working conditions and low wages. However, the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O) had made its second wage cut in the past eight months; both cuts by ten percent. In response to this, labor workers refused to allow any freight trains to roll in and out of the station until the restoration of their original wages. The railroad strikers included individuals from railroad workers to other labor sympathizers alike. The Great Strike of 1877 succeeded for the labor economy because of the large number of labor supporters, the overpowering of the militia, and the power of initiative from the people.
Damages of that failed strike led to the creation of a forty plus year deficiency and elimination of labor organization within the steel mill trade workers union and industry. Carnegie declared a mandatory elimination of any union participants with in his holdings. He utilized the strike’s events as reason to completely de-unionize the rest of his plants. The lack of the union’s protection gave way to the declining working conditions for the steelworkers. By 1919 steelworkers are said to have (1) “worked longer hours than any other comparable profession. An average coal miner worked fifty-two hours per week, a railroad man forty-eight hours per week and a construction worker did forty-four hours per week, more than fifty percent of steelworkers worked seventy-two hours per week.” Further, it took until 1936 for labor unions for skilled trades to become plausible
The Great Railroad Strike of 1877 was America’s first nationwide strike. The strike was a result of a 10 percent pay deduction by four of the largest railroads. “Nearly 100,000 workers were idled and approximately two-thirds of the railroad mileage across the Unites States was shut down with over 14 states and ten railroads involved” (AP Study Notes: Rise of Unions). President Hayes eventually sent troops to coral the strikers but they were so unorganized that they eventually stopped and went back to work.
Throughout the early 1900s, working-class men and women struggled to survive. Factory owners exploited their employees, requiring them to work unreasonably long hours in unsafe environments for little pay. Since working-class men and women were often poor, they relied on their jobs to generate an income. However, the conditions in which they were forced to work infuriated them. Machines in factories were typically unsafe, and workers hardly received any break time. As a result, working-class men and women began to form unions, like the Industrial Workers of the World, in an attempt to gain power over inconsiderate factory owners and fight for more rights. The work of unions to receive better treatment from their employers initiated the Worker’s
The production of new machinery and the improvements being made in technology began to reduce the number of workers that were necessary to complete tasks. This caused a rift between the people of the working class and the bourgeoisie, and ultimately paved the way for Trades Unions. These were formed with the direct intention of protecting the working man against the tyranny and neglect of the